Chapter 6: Babysitting Tutor

Annabeth

"And then we went our separate ways…"

Walking among everyone going to their lockers and packing up for the day, it was close to late afternoon and Piper was beside me while nodding her head at my explanation. Unlike others, I couldn't leave just yet because of that added responsibility that Mrs. Farron forced upon me. I sighed in despair.

It took a while, but now that I've told my best friend everything- it was difficult to get her off my back when I've hooked her with intrigue after that stupid note, I was waiting for a huge reaction which never came. I was expecting something more than Piper just nodding her head while walking along with me.

Just when I felt reassure that she won't say some embarrassing things, a sly smile resembling something of smirk appear on Piper's delighted face after I've told her the story with Percy. Getting the hint I needed, I shook my head and pleaded, "Please don't say it…"

Known for teasing me whenever possible, Piper had a knack for riling me up knowing that I won't be able to do anything other than being intensely frustrated. It wasn't fair, but that's the friendship I had foster with Piper Mclean over the years.

"What? I am not going to say anything…" Piper shot an innocent look at me.

You know that's anything but true…

"But," It didn't take longer than a minute before Piper just couldn't help herself. Her melodic and angel-like voice filled my head with dread and I had to brace myself for the embarrassment that surely coming my way, "You know that's exactly how it goes in the movies, right?"

Yep! She said it just as I hope she wouldn't…

"You are impossible, Pipes." I huffed in an annoyed tone, "And that's crazy. This is real life, not some stupid rom-com movie. Just because you watched a lot of cringey chick-flick doesn't mean you can apply it to my life too."

Piper sighed with a half-defeated look on her face, "Come on, Beth… Someday you are going to have to break out of this shell you put up with everyone anyways."

I could tell she was purposefully avoiding that past subject, but her roundabout way of mentioning it just got under my skin even more. However, I was pretty sure it would create the same response if she did mention it and forced me to talk and think about what happened. In any case, there just wasn't any easy way to mention that particular time frame of my high school journey, and being my best friend through that part of my life, Piper fully knew this.

"Plus, he sounded like a really good guy to me." Piper added a fraction of a second later and surprised me with her comment, "Oh! See? You are blushing yourself anyways. Haha…"

I didn't hesitate to give her a cold glare I only reserve for others.

How could she tell Percy was a good guy anyway? As smart as I was most of the time, Piper's secret ability had always been an enigma to me. Her gut feelings about relationships and romantic stuff like this were so accurate sometimes that it's downright scary. Earning herself the title of being the love counselor in school, it would be an understatement to say that she helped a lot of people with their relationship troubles over the years. After all, she was the one who warned me about Luke, my ex-boyfriend, which ultimately saved me in the end.

If only I listened to her before all that happened….

I sighed and quipped back, "Why are you following me anyway? I don't recall asking you to come with me."

She smiled smugly, "As your one and only friend in this school who actually cares about you, of course I have to come along. I wouldn't miss out on meeting your potential future boyfriend, princess."

I shoved her away at that, "Ahh shut up, Jerk! Ugh, you are so fucking annoying!"

Like an opposite attracting magnet, Piper attached herself back by my side with lightning quick reflex and laughed. She purposefully bumped into my shoulders and gave me a light smirk, "I know, and I love teasing you."

"I hate you…"

Piper laughed again and shifted in front of me, "Hey look, we are here already. Come on, Beth. Let's not keep him waiting."

At the end of the day now, there was barely anyone on the second floor when we were walking toward the library. Most, if not all the students in Goode had probably left or gone home by now, just anywhere else besides staying school. When we arrived, Piper and I were probably the only two souls seen around the huge entrance. And as the yellow sun settled over the western horizon, beams of warm orange glow filter through the windows into the vast library, a shimmering glow illuminate through the cracks of each tall and wide shelves.

For whatever reason, the scene in front of me suddenly captured me whole and I felt a growing warmth in my heart. It made me feel something— something hard to describe… like a longing feeling for something intangible or homesick for an affection that I never had.

What the heck? I've been in the library before, so why am I suddenly feeling this way?

"Come on, let's see if he's here." Piper dragged me along.

I whined, "Whoa! Hey, slow down…"

In the end, it turned out Percy was the one keeping me, and my annoying plus one, waiting because after searching through the mostly empty library for him, he wasn't here. And just after I've spent time telling him not to be late…

"I told him to be on time." I huffed.

Tempting myself with the thought of leaving since he didn't show up for our tutoring arrangement, Piper did her best to convince me otherwise like she already had a sense of what I was thinking about.

Damn her for knowing everything about me…

"Come on, maybe he got lost… Let's sit down first."

As much as I wanted to leave now, it would be totally irresponsible and also impossible now that I've made it this far. For one thing, Percy would be waiting here for me to show up without knowing that I left which wasn't right in any case. Secondly, I've already texted Alfred to pick me up an hour later, so it wasn't like I could leave even if I wanted to.

Reluctantly, I sighed and listened to my best friend. We went back to the studying tables and pick out a spot where Percy would immediately spot us once he came into the library- whenever that might be… I then took a seat opposite of Piper; the exhaustion I had throughout today filter into the lazy posture I had while sitting on the uncomfortable chair.

I let out a soft groan.

"Geez, Pipes… You really want to meet him, don't you?"

Instead of giving me the reaction I was hoping for, Piper didn't fall for my trap one bit and taunted me back for trying to tease her, "You are gonna have to try harder than that, Annabeth… Plus, I am here because I am your best friend. Gotta look out for one another, and you'd do the same thing for me too, right?"

I saw my opening and took it, "Hmm… I am not so sure about that."

Fatally wounded by what I said, Piper gasped and held her right hand over her chest before she leaned heavily over the study desk, groaning in pain. Like always, she gave me her best drama queen response when I've intentionally made fun of her, "Ouch, Annabeth… That's probably the meanest thing you've ever said to me."

I smirked, "Come now, that's hardly the worse…"

Her hazel eyes twinkled a bit in the yellow sunbeams. It suddenly lit up with a bunch of different and vibrant colors all at once before she smiled amusingly at me.

"Yep. You are right." Piper laughed and straighten up, "You still owe me a pint of Ben and Jerry Ice cream for ditching me last time…"

I shook my head and laughed along, "You are an idiot, Pipes… And that's not even the point."

Ready to crack up any second now with that subtle smirk on her face, it's moments like this that I really enjoyed sharing with Piper. Sure, she might be an annoying pain in the butt sometimes, but in her own way, I knew she cared about me and would do everything she could to help. And like her, I promised myself that I would take care of her too.

At the same time, our shared amusement momentarily made us forget we were inside the library, a place where we were supposed to stay as quiet as possible.

"Shh-Shush!" The librarian over on the other side tried to silence us.

Instead of being alarmed when we were singled out, another bout of hilarity followed because there literally wasn't anyone here studying. Piper and I shared a smiling glance before we broke down with laughers together. It seemed like he realized his mistake because we didn't hear him shushing us anymore.

Unable to stay aware of my surroundings, I came to regret not paying attention because that's when he decided to show up, right in the midst of me laughing like a lunatic with my best friend.

"What's so funny?" I heard right behind me.

My body flinched when I heard a familiar voice behind me and my senses perk right up.

"Ahh!" I almost jumped from my seat before turning around to meet his gaze, "Oh My God! That's so not funny, Percy!"

Standing close behind me and wearing the school standard attire; Damn it! Why did he have to look so freaking good in our school uniform? And why are you blushing? -Percy right away recoiled when my attention snapped toward him and my eyes flared up at his direction.

He had his hands up, "D-Don't throw anything, okay?"

I wasn't going to throw anything for his record. Instead, I wanted nothing more than to smack him, and I almost did smack him too if not for my mind barely holding back the muscles in my arm. Dreaming about it though, I could see myself hitting him again and again until I was able to satisfy the rage inside me and he was in a bloody pulp.

Well, maybe not the bloody pulp part…

"You are late." I grumbled.

Percy relaxed when I didn't do anything violent after the initial shock ran through my system. He sighed and stopped flinching away from me and the study table, "I am sorry."

I raised my eyebrows.

"I mean, hi again, and sorry about- umm…" Percy tried to calm me down with a nervous chuckle and a soft smile. Suddenly my breath was gone. I had to stop any embarrassing expression from creeping onto my face right away, though I did not doubt Piper already picked something up from the way I reacted when Percy showed up out of nowhere.

"Sorry." He repeated, "I didn't know you'd get scared so easily too…"

Alarmed except in a different sense, my grey eyes instinctively moved toward Percy and I was more than ready to give him a You-are-so-dead type of death stare, but my final reaction ended up with me looking something like a fish out of water, unable to breathe or blink my eyes at his remarks.

Did- Did he really just say that?

"Umm… So, I thought it's only me and you?" Percy asked a second later as he looked at me and the plus one that I reluctantly brought along at the same time.

Since Piper was sitting opposite of me on the desk, it meant she knew fully well that Percy was coming in from behind me yet she didn't say a single thing to warn me. I couldn't fully blame her though because she had never seen Percy before. Still, she could have at least gesture in some ways that someone was walking toward us from the entrance.

What a good friend you are, Pipes…

At the mention of my best friend, I turned our attention to Piper and began to introduce them to each other; Of course, not before I gave another cold glare at the girl with brown braided tresses so she knew I am on to her schemes.

"She's my annoying friend, Piper. Don't worry, you can just ignore her…" I said, "She insisted on coming with me, so— No problem, right?"

Percy paused and shook his head, "No, I don't mind…"

I clear my throat, "Cool."

It seemed like we still couldn't be less awkward around each other because it took longer than a moment before I found my voice again.

"Well, let's get started…" I gestured for him to sit.

It was definitely unintentional, but I didn't catch his uncomfortableness until I saw Piper smiling at me with a huge grin on her face. Because of my stupidity, I have unknowingly made it so the only seats available were beside me and Piper, meaning that Percy had to sit beside one of us!

Naturally, I was about to ask Percy to sit with Piper but of course she beat me to the punch. Percy looked even more uncomfortable now when Piper opened her mouth and gave him that knowing smile, her index finger pointed at the other chair on this side of the table.

"You can sit with Annabeth, Percy…" I heard Piper suggested with so many hidden notes and octaves behind her gleeful voice, "Don't be shy…"

Curse you, Piper Mclean!

I blushed when Percy mumbled, "Um, sure…"

He went around behind me and awkwardly took his seat. Luckily, it was a wide table so it wasn't like we were pressed up against one another, but it didn't mean that we weren't being any less fiddly when we were side by side again. It might even be worse with Piper here because there was no doubt on my mind that she was taking pleasure out of watching us fumbled with our words around each other.

"So, Percy?" Piper asked when he settled down beside me. And there goes the interrogation…

"Yeah? It's Piper, right?" Percy began to take out his work for today and lay them out on the desk, but I hadn't even asked him to yet, "My bad… I forgot to introduce myself earlier, but I guess you know my name already."

Her hazel eyes sparkled like gold; It really wouldn't be hard for anyone to see the fireworks literally blasting within her pupil and iris, and right after Percy's polite greetings, Piper turned and shot me a delightful smile- a weird one at that because I've never seen her like this before, "Oh goodie! You are not one of those clueless new guys around this school…"

I wasn't too shocked to notice Percy shifted on his seat, "Oh, okay…"

I grumbled, "Ignore her, Percy… If you hang around her too much, you will become even more stupid than you already are."

As the words came out of my mouth without checking my tongue, I realized a second too late at what I involuntary said. It was such a mean to say to him- even though it's true, before I cast a look at his direction. Hoping to hide my subtle glance, it didn't work because Percy caught me looking. I could tell he was slightly upset with what I said too. I sighed.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it like that…"

Percy shrugged a moment later, "It's okay. I mean, you've called me stupid so many times now, I think I am used to it already."

A red blushed creeped out of nowhere so I desperately tried to hide it away from him, but more importantly, I wanted to hide it from Piper at all cost. It didn't seem to have any use though because my best friend who's a little too good at reading things noticed right away. I saw her smiling.

Taking advantage of this sudden little pause between us, I cleared my throat in an attempt to break Piper's gaze off me. It worked. She was now staring at Percy instead.

"Anyways," I scooched my chair a bit closer to him. It was only a tad bit closer but I am sure Piper found some big deal with this small gesture. It wasn't like I wanted to either, but it would certainly make my life easier to help figure out his tutoring lesson if I could see his assigned work in the first place.

"Let me see what you have…"

Getting myself into the framework of his classes, I began to sort out the stuff he brought out. It didn't take me too long, but organizing his work came as easy as a breeze. It was all pretty basic classes for the third year students in Goode, though I had no doubt it's still hard for him to understand. After all, I wouldn't imagine Percy needing to take AP physics at his regular high school from the city, no less when the funding was probably very limited. Meanwhile, I could still hear both of them chatting as Piper squeezed her way through to make a one-sided conversation with Percy.

"While Annie is doing that, want to tell me how you guys met?" That was Piper's first question, even though she knew the story already when I told her about it in the hallways.

Yet that wasn't what caused my abrupt reaction in the first place, "S-Stop calling me that, Pipes!"

Piper pouted and stick her tongue out at me, leaving me with a huge annoyed sigh.

I didn't know what to quip back partly because Percy chuckled and spoke up suddenly, "You two are really good friends, I see…"

"A real annoying one at that…" I added.

Percy directed his lighthearted smile at me. It made me pause all the thoughts I had, then he turned to Piper with the same smile and said, "Well, I guess we met when I was getting my morning coffee."

Piper feigned a soft 'Oh' before smiling at Percy to continue, "Hmm, what happened?"

Like she ultimately wanted, Percy began to spill the juicy details of how we met much to her satisfaction and delights. Her eyes were gleaming with anticipation like a captivating story was about to be told.

In the meantime, I made an effort to focus- or rather, hide – myself into his work so I wouldn't feel the embarrassment when they began to talk about what happened. There was a skill I've learned over the years that come in real handy sometimes. I've used it so many times that I've coined it as my own special power, the ability to shut something out of my head even when I am forced to listen.

"Really?" Piper laughed when Percy revealed his version of our coffee incident.

"Yeah." Percy chuckled along.

I shook my head as the events between me and Percy were lay out from beginning to end. However, I noticed he purposefully left a lot of things out. He didn't reveal how I gave him his number for the laundry cost, nor what he scribbled on the new coffee cup that he got for me. He also didn't add the small conversation we had inside the infirmary.

I guess I was feeling thankful that he didn't spill those things to my best friend, but something about him avoiding those events made me feel— Am I feeling weird right now? Did he not talk about them because he was embarrassed about it too?

Even if he didn't, I've already told Piper everything; and I really mean everything, so it wasn't like she didn't know about them in the first place. Before long, Percy finished his stories but it didn't seem like Piper was even paying attention anymore. She kept her hazel eyes and her bright smile on him still, but instead her interests were anywhere else but focused on his recount of our mornings. I only saw her looking at me periodically with a giggling giant smile on her face.

"Yeah, that's basically how we—"

"Ah-hem…" I cut him off because I finally finished setting up his work flow, "Here. I've organized it for you. See if you can do it and if you don't understand, just ask me."

"Oh. Sure," I then slid his work over the desk and back to his side.

Breaking our attention away from the topic that Piper surely wanted to continue, there was now a much needed moment of peace and silence that I was glad to have. And as we settled down in the barely filled library, I might as well use this opportunity to get some work done for today's classes. With Piper here, I am sure I could help her out with a few of those tough math questions so she wouldn't again call me late at night and ask me to help her through a video call. The few times she did, I remember how her hair was all messy and sticky with a dead look in her eyes, like the many cups of coffee she drank were the only thing keeping her up.

Those were some precious memories I had knowing Piper all these three years.

"While we are here, we might as well get started on some of our work too." I offered Piper the chance but it wasn't a surprise when all I got was a soft grumbling response back.

"Aww, but it's boring…"

I sighed and gave her a small threat, "Okay, but don't you dare call me late in the night asking for the all answers, Pipes."

She knew she was in a corner now, "Oh fine... I guess I'll work too."

I heard a very small and faint chuckle from Percy because of how close we were sitting together.

Reluctantly, Piper brought out her work and in less than a minute we were all focused on studying just like I've wanted. The quietness replacing any need for us to have a conversation, though I was more interested in preventing another talk about me and Percy more than anything else.

Honestly, it wasn't like Piper was lacking in her academics in any sense. She was smart too and if she put her mind to it, I knew she could more than enough to finish the work on her own. Her only kryptonite was the laziness that followed whenever her mind was distracted elsewhere.

… And because of Percy sitting beside me, Piper was most definitely distracted.

*Sigh* I am sure it will take less than five minutes before she cried for help this time…

Then five minutes passed in the blink of an eye, except Piper wasn't the one who cried for help. Rather, it was Percy who did, but only because I noticed his slight agitation when he had been staring at the same question since we began to work quietly. He didn't say anything nor did he asked for help, though I could easily figure him out without it anyways. The non-verbal movements beside me were obvious.

Wait? Why aren't you paying attention to your own work?

It was at that moment I realized what I've been doing for the past five minutes- staring at Percy without breaking my eye contact. Luckily, it didn't seem like he noticed before I caught myself. I sighed in relief, but seconds later my body felt tingly, the nerves working overtime until I felt pins and needles crawling all over my skin. Naturally, I shuddered at the sensation, and in my head I was desperately trying to figure out what's happening to me. I forced myself to look away too, turning a few degrees left and got hit with a dazzling smile instead, Piper giving me the happiest knowing grin ever.

I rolled my eyes at her reaction…

"By the way, when are you guys going to leave?" Percy asked suddenly.

Piper shrugged, "I don't know? I am leaving with the princess, so…"

I hate her! I really hate her!

All throughout the years I've known her, the different nicknames Piper had for me always makes me feel uncomfortable, yet I somehow never got around to stopping her. I got used to it instead. Then again, the probability of getting what I wanted was so low it really didn't make sense to try.

Of course, Percy's green eyes twinkled at that, the orange sunbeams reflecting off his emerald iris and bounced back into my grey eyes. My thoughts paused randomly, then only a second later did I remember what Piper called me. I blushed away from Percy and glared at Piper.

"Stop it, you idiot! Don't call me that right now…" I mumbled softly.

At the same time, I tap my phone as the screen lit up along with the time. It was 4:17 pm now, a little more than half an hour before Alfred would be here to pick me up. It might not be such a long time, but it certainly felt like it when I was in a situation as terrible as this.

"Half an hour, then I am leaving…"

"Oh. Cool…" Percy replied awkwardly.

Why did he ask anyways? Did he want me to stay longer? Or maybe Piper? Regardless, I nodded tentatively and went back to my own work for the day. In something like fifteen minutes, I finished everything with more than 20 minutes to spare. Piper and Percy were both struggling still to complete their homework…

"Need help?" I asked them at the same time.

Piper immediately made a face and groaned, "Yeah-yeah… I know you are smart already, Beth. You can stop being so smug."

Even though I didn't take offense to her slight jab, it was hard to stop that smiling look on my face.

There was only one reason why Piper would be so salty with her homework. A brief look at the stack of papers in front of her and I could confirm exactly what I was expecting. It was calculus homework, a different kind of kryptonite for Piper. The fact that it was coming from Mr. Wilson most definitely grind her gears more than any other subject. And after being chew into for interrupting him the whole class, she no doubted held some strong animosity toward doing anything related to it.

"Maybe you should help Percy instead." Piper gestured at the boy with onyx hair beside me, then a grin slowly moved across her lips until it morphed into a proper smirk, "It looked like he's just as frustrated as I am."

I saw Percy tried to hide his blush, "No, I just— I am taking my time, that's all."

More willing to help Piper out, she knew exactly what I was thinking about. That's why she told me to help Percy instead, knowing fully that I couldn't argue back against her wishes nor force my way to help her first. I sighed.

"You are a terrible liar, Percy." I let him know.

Percy made a confused look at me but I could easily see through him, "Well, if I am going to be your assigned tutor anyway, the least you can do is ask me if you don't understand something…"

His expression dropped slightly after I hit right on the dot. It didn't take long now for him to relent and admit that he was stuck with the math and science problem. I'd given up too, lacking the strength to fight against my best friend, against our principal, or against that weird feeling building inside me whenever I was around Percy.

"Is it that obvious?"

Despite the fact that we only met today and we know next to nothing about each other, I sometimes wonder about him- in a way that's less than flattering.

How stupid can he really be?

I shook my head in mocking despair, "Duh."

At the same time, I began to tune out Piper from my peripheral vision, putting a mental block against anything she might be subtly hinting at. I scooched over with my chair, sitting next to Percy less than one feet away.

"So, what's the problem?" I asked with my best attempt at a poker face while holding back the red flush on my blushing cheeks.

As Percy explained the issues he was facing with each question; there were geometry, physics, and a few literary open-ended questions from a fictional book, I got the sense that his academics might not be appropriate for any junior material in Goode. Objectively speaking, Percy might not even be at the freshmen level. No wonder why he was staring at the physic equation with lost green eyes. It might as well be an alien language to him.

I was pretty sure my eyebrows were raised beyond my forehead from the revelation.

"So you have never taken any physics before?"

Percy replied sheepishly, "No, I have… I just don't remember much."

Despite lacking tremendously in his studies, Percy didn't fail to notice the wild expression I had. It prompted him to apologize, awkwardly as he gave me an empathizing soft look.

"Sorry… I know what you are thinking." Percy added in his explanation, "In a way, that's what I meant when I told you that I might not be a good fit for this school."

I blinked, "Oh."

Making me curious now, I wondered what Percy meant by that. Of course, I could tell he wasn't caught up to his grade level one bit, but the tone behind his words made me feel like there was something more in them, something he was holding back from revealing.

"Sorry you got stuck as my tutor…"

I made a soft sound and a slight nod in response.

Thoroughly intrigued by his revelation, Percy somehow peaked my interest with his puzzling confession and suddenly I wanted to learn more about what he meant with those words, the reasoning behind his explanation. I was more than prepared to ask...

"I- I don't really mind… but what do you mean by tha-?"

… when my phone vibrated on the table and jolted me out of the question I had for him. Breaking the moment I had with Percy, I blinked a few times until Percy shifted his gaze on me and asked something else, "Are you leaving now?"

I briefly looked at Piper opposite of me; she seemed to be asking me the same thing with her growing smile, subtly gesturing at both me and Percy with her hazel eyes, then I tapped my phone.

It was a text from Alfred saying that he was waiting for me by the parking lot. Right on the dot at 5:00 o'clock, I wasn't surprised that he was so good at being on time. Yet, I felt hesitant to go.

"I can leave later. You still need help, right?"

The words left my mouth, yet I didn't pick up on what I said even when I was fully aware of what the strings of words meant. Did I really just do that?

"You sure?"

Why? Why did I— Oh fuck it! I grabbed my phone and text Alfred that I need another hour, sending him a sorry emoji before I set it back down. Hopefully, he won't be too mad about it.

"It's okay." I reassured him, "Here, let's start with this…"

Piper suddenly chimed in as she shot me a giant overjoy expression, "Maybe you can help me too."

I shook my head and stuck my tongue back at her.

Gone was the embarrassment I felt sitting so close to him, I found it easier to ignore the rushing feeling when the only thing to talk about was the homework in front of us. It didn't seem like he was blushing much now either, replacing with his serious face while he listened intently to the explanations I was giving him.

Luckily, it seemed like Percy was able to follow and grasp some of what I said for specific questions so it wasn't a total lost cause or a waste of time. Within half an hour, we were able to get through at least geometry and the beginning of his literary questions. Leaving the rest up to him, we moved onto physics. It was a lot tougher this time around, anything I said was followed by a soft huh or a 'I don't understand, can you say it again?' phrase consecutively. We spent ten whole minutes on just one question.

"No, that's not how you-"

I didn't know what prompted me to react like this, but as he was scribbling a physics equation on the blank space, he switched out a value which made the whole thing incorrect. Instead of being normal like most people would and telling him that it's wrong, the irritation I felt because of his cluelessness forced my hand. Getting an urge, an impulsive part of myself beyond my rational head propelled my body to lean over on his side, gesturing for his pen as I corrected his mistake for him.

"See, this can't be here… Mass can't be divided by gravity because there is no momentum."

As I crossed out his handwriting with mine, I heard a distinctive sharp inhale on the other side of the table. It was barely audible, but I heard it anyways. A small gasp from Piper, it didn't take long for me to figure out what that's supposed to mean. The context of where I was and what I was doing pretty soon dawn on me and gave me a heart attack at the same time.

I let out a shrieking yelp and my body flung backward.

"Ahh! I- I'm…" I shoved him his pen back.

Percy awkwardly took it and I heard him clear his throat, "Umm… thanks."

Before Piper could say anything more with another subtle look, I gave her a real death glare just in time to pause her right on the spot. It didn't stop her smiles though. I shifted uncomfortably on my chair, leaning away from Percy as far as I possibly could before I said with a shaky voice, "So, you got it right?

Percy nodded with a huge red blush on his cheeks, "Yeah, sure…"

Unable to even take a glance at him, I nodded accordingly, "Well, I guess we will get going now."

Again, I glared at Piper and forced her to pack up her stuff while I did the same. Percy still sat on his seat without much movement, staring at his homework in front of him. In a hurry, I made sure everything was in my bag before I pushed my seat back and stood up rather abruptly.

"Come on, Pipes… We are leaving."

Unavoidable, I saw the infamous tease on her face as she stared knowingly at me. She knew exactly what I was doing and why I was doing it. It infuriated me, but that would have to wait until I could get as far away from the library first. Thankfully, she didn't complain or whine about leaving so suddenly.

"W-Wait," Percy abruptly turned over before I could leave.

I paused and looked back.

I didn't think he could keep his eyes on me. I certainly didn't think I could either, but the surprise just kept piling up between us as we stared at each other wordlessly.

"Um… I just- Thanks for helping me." He said in a grateful manner.

I averted my grey eyes from his green ones, "Sure. Anytime…"

"I guess I'll see you next time?"

I blushed, "Y-Yeah, see you…"

I grabbed Piper's right hand and pulled her hard towards the exit. Of course, Piper had to be Piper before she cried out, "Bye Percy! It's was nice to meet you!"

"Oh. Yeah, bye…" He called back.

Parting from the library where I had my first tutoring session with Percy, I ran out into hallways with lightning-speed reflex. Piper barely able to catch up with the pace that I was walking/sprinting. It wasn't until we were at the north end of the school did I let my feet rest and calm down from the small marathon I just ran.

"Shit, Beth… I- I thought you had a concussion just today? What the heck?" Piper asked, pausing for huge breaths at each interval.

Hands holding on her knees, Piper was breathing hard and panting heavily. I was getting a weird sense of déjà vu with this, the hallways and Piper wildly catching air back in her lungs reminded me of Percy this morning when he—

A tingle in the back of my head rolled down my spine and I involuntary shiver at the memory.

I shook my head at Piper, "Come on, drama queen… It wasn't that bad."

Piper inclined to disagree. Her head shook side to side, "Fuck! I am never letting you drag me like that again."

I smirked and veered off-topic, "Anyway, do you want a lift?"

Living close to Queens, it always takes Piper close to an hour to get to school and an hour to go back home. I never did enjoy the thought of her traveling so long and alone by herself, even if I knew she could take care of herself plenty. But today was an exception. It was already evening because she decided to stay with me in the library; As much as I didn't want her to, it's already done and I would hate to have her travel alone in the subway just to get home. She was my friend after all, and I would do anything to take care of her too.

"For real?" Her eyes gleaming gratefully.

I nodded and smiled, "Come on, you think I'd leave you to take the subway on your own? Plus, I don't know if we are going back to the mansion today, so it might be on the way."

Piper grinned, "Oh Thank you! Thank you Thank you Thank You!"

She flung herself at me before I could sidestep away. The close bear hug was suffocating me, and as much as I wanted to push her off because she was also a little sweaty from the impromptu jog, I couldn't stop her for some reason. I guess it's because I was laughing too much like a loon, her antics and that grinning expression all made it impossible to handle her. It was so stupid and childish, but it's exactly why I enjoyed it so much. Piper being a huge child just put a giant smile on my face.

"Gosh! You are an idiot Pipes!" My voice cracked up with laughers.

Piper cheered, "Yea! I get to ride in a limo and with Annabeth and Alfred! Yea!"

Oh my Gosh! She's such a child when she wanted to be…

"You are impossible…"

Soon, the joyous chorus between us ebbed away, but the moment wasn't lost as I turned to my best friend with a smile, "Come on, let's go… Alfred is already waiting there for more than an hour."